Monday, June 20, 2016

Brexit Could Unite Ireland

James Wilson considers one possible outcome of Brexit. James Wilson is an occasional consultant with Expac North.

As the descendant of Scottish Presbyterian immigrants who fled to Ireland in the Killing Times, I often holiday in Galloway and the Borders, enjoying the culture, the language, the people, and the rich harvest of Solway cuisine.

This time however, Brexit was on the agenda. I spoke to several English Labour types, at the coal face of insecure employment, variable shift patterns, and temporary /zero hour contracts. A generation ago they were working class aristocracy, now they are the working poor. They have seen their collective bargaining beaten down by migrant workers. They have nothing to lose by leaving the EU. A drop in shareholder profits means bugger all to those whose only withdrawal is from a foodbank.

But in Stranraer, I gleaned an a snippet of what is an official whisper (Stephen O’Brien Sunday Times 19.06.16, p.22) Already there is speculation in Scottish Parliament that in event of a UK exit, the British – rather than seek to impose 499Km of hard border with the Republic of Ireland, with a target rich environment of checkpoints, customs posts and accompanying army of security guards – will by a simple Westminster vote, move such controls to the port of Cairnryan and all other points of entry to Great Britain.

This would mean a de facto retreat of the border to the Irish Sea, and all citizens of the north (British or Irish) would have to go through passport control on ‘entering’ [sic] the United Kingdom. Likewise all goods and produce originating in N Ireland would require an H M R & C certificate of origin to avoid UK customs duty. The north-south structures agreed in the GFA already provide the capacity to accommodate this solution, and the EU would be sympathetic to the peace process. Thus Brexit would de facto unite Ireland as a special economic/free travel area with the six-counties outside GB control or sanction.

One can already hear the howls of indignation from the DUP as they are asked for passports to enter Great Britain. Physiologically it is difficult to predict what this very physical sense of isolation from ‘the main land’ [sic] would do to the Unionist mindset. Never mind the rebooting of Scottish nationalist calls for another referendum.

And I supposed Gerry & the boys would claim that this was part of their long term strategy - perhaps we have overlooked their brilliance and their ability to see that far into the future.

On a more serious note, I can see how reinstating a controlled border in the six counties would be a nightmare scenario for the Brits and perhaps reinvigorating one for republicans of different hues.

Also at the end of the day it is the working people (or formerly working people) whose areas have to take in an untenable amount of immigrants and low wage workers but are told by the elites whose areas & earning potential remain untouched that they are too racist, or too stupid to see the benefit of losing their job, or having their wages depressed. You can fool the people some of the time etc.....

The South wants the UK to remain. Remember the cute hoor hungry bastards are far from stupid themselves and had to be forced into a 2nd referendum vote when they voted NO intially to letting those other 10 nations or however many it was into the EU years back. This meant becoming net contributors rather than net recipients, and the power hose of money being redirected towards Poland and Romania. The people were more switched on than the FF FG Lab judas bastards who were selling all and sundry to Brussels. They smell the money like a shark, from a great distance. Unfortunately the political elite were getting huge wads of the stuff to sell the rest of us down the swaney, tiz how the EU was built. The vast majority of Irish trade/exports are to the UK, USA and Canada just now acording to an RTE news report. So this could all backfire on republicans/nationalists and a brexit could actually see closer ties between Ireland, USA, UK and the Commonwealth nations. It's a 'funny old game'. Talking of which, YOU'RE UP!! Bring on the panzer division.

Saw Neil Lemon on BBC1 talking about Northern Ireland in the plural personal pronoun 'WE' and 'US' context. Either a result of the LVF death threat that he got or the getting battered unconcious in Glasgow by Rangers fans or else perhaps Alan Shearer, also in the BBC studio, must have booted him in the face, rite up that ugly kisser, once again on the way up the stairs to the studio. Whatever brought that shit on it was too much to suffer. Them Germans couldn't hit a barn door from point blank with a blunderbuss. They should go on to win it now.... THE GERMANS lol

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Anthony McIntyre

Former IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in Long Kesh, 4 years on the blanket and no-wash/no work protests which led to the hunger strikes of the 80s. Completed PhD at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process.